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I read an article a while ago claiming that the German-hosted qualifier was going to have a real live MLB production crew filming it. It was a bit fuzzy on what this meant in terms of actual coverage, but I assume that means it will be available to watch live somewhere.

You're going to Regensburg for that, aren't you? I'm jealous--I spent a few months working there about a decade ago and loved the place. If there'd been baseball there I might never have come home.

Yeah I'm quite excited. It's round about Octoberfest time too. The only part of Germany I've ever been to is Cologne so far. I might skip out on the Germany-Czech game Friday and check out what the local area has to offer.

I love the WBC, but it was dumb having the qualifiers so far in advance. It seems like it would have been much easier, and generated more attention, if the qualifiers were played immediately preceding the first round of the WBC, like the old NCAA tournament play-in game.

How would the travel have been more difficult if the qualifiers were in late Feb. or early March rather than Sept./Oct.?

How many weeks off from work do you ask for if there's only an outside chance that your makeshift team qualifies for the main tournament? It's not like anybody is going to get all bothered about the preliminaries anyway when none of the big powers participate there.

How would the travel have been more difficult if the qualifiers were in late Feb. or early March rather than Sept./Oct.?

He might mean on the 1 in a million chance a team like Great Britain qualifies, they might need several months notice to go to another tournament (the actual WBC) rather than a few weeks. I don't really know what goes into planning for tournaments like this (though I really should...I was at the British Baseball Federation annual meeting where the WBC qualifier was discussed...but I was pretty much napping through it), so I don't know how accurate the argument is, but I imagine that's what he was referring to.

Also, I imagine the weather's better in Sept./Oct. than in late Feb./early March. Not sure that matters in Florida, but it probably does in Germany.

Right, but I would have just held one qualifier at each first-round WBC site, with the winner moving into that same site's first-round bracket. All but four of the qualifier teams would be eliminated after the qualifying round, and the four qualifying teams would likely be eliminated no more than a week later, after R1 of the main event.

If MLB is trying to grow the game, offering teams from developing countries a trip to Petco or the Tokyo Dome seems more enticing than having them play a qualifier in Jupiter in front of 40 people. This current schedule also robs some of the qualifier teams of their strongest players.

If MLB is trying to grow the game, offering teams from developing countries a trip to Petco or the Tokyo Dome seems more enticing than having them play a qualifier in Jupiter in front of 40 people.

It's not equal for everyone unfortunately. Playing in Jupiter doesn't sound like my idea of a good time. But I think the Regensburg pool has been well done. Germany being able to host the event should boost awareness, and even in Britain they are excited about having the first WBC event in Europe. They were also quite happy that the qualifier coincides with the European Championships which saves GB (and I assume the Czechs and Germans) the hassle of organizing two separate squads. From what I understand about this level of international play one of the great headaches of the national team is figuring out who can play when. It isn't ideal for everyone obviously, but I think the Europeans are very excited with how the WBC qualifier is being done. They'll be less excited when Canada mops the floor with these poor saps! ...but that's another story.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that at the very least the Finals of all of the qualifiers (i.e. the games that will determine who is going to the WBC proper) will be on TV. At least that's what I seem to remember reading about the September Jupiter qualifier. I'm going to guess that the other groups might get more airtime, since the regular season will be done by then.